I’d like to say that I’ve done a pretty good job of “taming” my collection over the past few months.  With the uncertainty of a shaky economy, I felt that it would be better for the family if we chose to spend any extra money more conservatively.  That means that the steady stream of envelopes being delivered every day would be coming to an abrupt halt.

Instead of adding lots of new cards, I’ve spent a lot of time organizing some cards that have been sitting around for quite a while and getting a handle on some set needs.  I did celebrate a birthday last month, so I used that as an excuse to pick up a few singles here and there. 

I was hoping to knock out the 2014 Topps Stadium Club set by the end of August but couldn’t quite get it wrapped up. While it is the smallest of the Stadium Club releases, it’s taken me years to complete. Most of the reason is that I simply get distracted with other card projects and before I know it, time flies by. The other reason is that I know to complete the set, I’ll have to shell out a bit more money than I typically like for singles. I love the eBay auctions featuring a listing of cards and you can pick “20” or whatever. Even if I don’t “need” 20 cards from the list, the few that I do need are often cheap enough that I don’t mind.

Topps put a halt to Stadium Club after the 2008 release. I’m not sure why Topps stopped making Stadium Club. If anyone knows, I’d love to hear why.

The want-list of cards for this set is slowly getting smaller. These are the cards left. I’m not looking forward to having to shell out for the Betts rookie. I’ll have to wait until I have an extra $50 floating around. The others shouldn’t be a problem to pick up fairly cheap.

$50 is ordinarily not something that I would even consider spending in an effort to complete a set…for one card. In this case, I really don’t mind. I love the set and I think Betts is a tremendous player. He’s worth the money. I’ve always been a fan of Stadium Club’s mix of present and past players. The photography is also always on point and seems to be getting better each year. Technology has allowed artists to “colorize” old black and white photos in ways that make it hard to imagine we ever lived in a world without color film. The Musial is a magnificent example. I also really enjoy any photo featuring an overhead perspective.

What sets have you all been working on during the past few months? With the release of new cards slowing down to a mere trickle, I’ve enjoyed seeing how many of you have found other ways to enjoy your collections.